Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger successfully introduced a motion that mobilizes the county’s health and mental health departments in support of bringing services to the north Pasadena region.
A May 2021 report by the Department of Health Services identified north Pasadena as one of five “high priority areas” lacking access to primary health care and outpatient mental health services.
“My motion’s goal is to bring tangible health and mental health care solutions to neighborhoods in my district where there is an acute need,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “This work has the potential to serve as a model and will be done in lock step with leaders from the City of Pasadena. The first step is to find funding and a physical site where we can co-locate housing, our respective health departments, the county’s mental health professionals and local mental health organizations to fill a service gap. This county-city collaboration will make a big difference in the well-being of many people’s lives.”
The county will now begin to develop a funding plan to acquire a property to provide the health and mental health outpatient services.
“This is an example of how city and county governments can work together with private hospitals and academia in order to improve the delivery of desperately needed health and mental health services,” said Victor M. Gordo, Mayor of the City of Pasadena. “I would like to thank Supervisor Barger for partnering with me and the City of Pasadena and encouraging our partners – Huntington Hospital and Fuller School of Psychology – as we take this important step forward. I look forward to creating an effective and collaborative public/private partnership for the benefit of those with physical and mental health needs which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”